Alfred Riocreux

Riocreux was born in Sèvres, where the royal porcelain manufactory was located. His father, Denis-Désiré Riocreux, was a porcelain painter who worked there and eventually became curator of Sèvres' porcelain collection. Trained in his father's studio, Riocreux embarked on a successful career as a botanical illustrator. He worked alongside botanists at Paris's Museum d'Histoire Naturelle and began illustrating botanical treatises, beginning with "Le Jardin Fruitier du Muséum" (1858-1875) and contributing to horticultural journals. He soon became the leading illustrator of horticultural texts published in France.
The pear depicted here was named after Olivier de Serres (1539-1613), a sixteenth-century agronomist who performed extensive research and whose findings served as the basis for much modern agronomy in France. His 1608 "Le Théatre d'Agriculture" became a standard textbook in the field, and his advice was followed by many in the viticulture industry. Riocreux's design must have been preparatory for a plate in one of the many books he illustrated, and it is close in format to his series of plates devoted to pears that appeared in the "Revue horticole" in the 1860s.